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Published: November 8th 2006
Bamboo tree
I just thought it would be interesting for you to see these, because I was interested in them!Hi everyone,
This blog has been fanned out to so many people now that I'm not sure how many of you are out there! Welcome to Anne's friends! And the crew of Icelandic Air now has the blog address also, so they can follow our adventures while they are "out there" doing their own thing between flights.
Before we left the hotel, I went out on to the grounds and took a picture of the bamboo trees. I thought you may be interested in seeing what they look like (I certainly was!). Inside the hotel, I also took 2 pictures of the Japanese breakfast as it was available at the buffet this morning. Soup and salad appear to be a popular choice, and probably something we Canadians should consider doing more often!
We arrived in Hong Kong about an hour ago. Most people are resting while we await our luggage. This was mostly a travel day for us. We left the hotel in Kyoto at about 10 a.m. and headed to the airport in Osaka. Along the way, I took a few pictures from the bus. It appeared to me to be laundry day in Japan as many
Japanese breakfast
Much different choices than we usually have....... of the apartment buildings had laundry hanging from the balconies. If you look closely at one of the pictures I posted, you will see the laundry. The airport is located in the middle of the water (or so it seemed to me); I took a picture of the long bridge that we drove on to get to the airport. Once there, we had the time to enjoy a Chai Latte at Starbuck's! Yum! Thanks so much to Barb and Ed who gave me THE most creative and thoughtful gift of currency for each country in the amount that would buy me a latte!!!! Thank you! I enjoyed that a lot today, along with my new friends Anne and Tina. Anne has contacted her friends and invited them to join along on the blog, through my website. Tina made a few attempts at the hotel in Japan but that didn't work. Once at the airport, with a little help from our friends, she managed to get through to her e-mail account. We will connect her friends as well. The airport was huge, bright, clean, modern and quiet. Quite a pleasant experience.
The flight was about 5 hours and also enjoyable.
Laundry day in Japan
I was quite amazed and amused at all the laundry hanging from the balconies.... Lunch was either a seafood pasta dish or a chicken and vegetable dish. Both were excellent (Japanese high standards!!!!) based on all the comments I heard. We arrived at dusk, at a special terminal where we were met by Chinese authorities. They checked our identification by way of an eye laser (not sure if I am using the correct terminology there); they scanned the iris of our eye before letting us on the bus for the hotel. Kind of feels like putting groceries through the scanner..........same kind of thing. Interesting. Very high tech. A new experience for me.
The ride from the airport was incredible. Our tour guide was most helpful in providing information on our stay in Hong Kong. I got a few photos from the air, and a few along the way to the hotel. It was getting challenging since the sun was setting and my flash was bouncing off the bus window. But I wanted to capture the essence of all the tall buildings in Hong Kong. All I can say is WOW!!!!! I'm overwhelmed!!!! Our hotel is awesome. We are at the Intercontinental Grand Stanford (www.hongkongintercontinental.com) The room is fantastic!!! Very state of the art.
Japanese breakfast 2
A little soup with your breakfast salad......the other picture showed tofu along with vegetable choices. (and chocolates on the pillow don't hurt either!)
So, that's the latest update. We go out for dinner shortly, and have a full day tomorrow, which will include a ferry ride, a dim sum lunch and dinner at a special place. Stay tuned for more notes and pictures whenever I get the chance to update you.
Thanks again for coming along on the ride. I still feel like I'm living a dream..........and it's a GREAT dream!!!!
(Kim, thanks for your note. No, it's not my birthday, but thanks for the kind greetings anyway! There's an awesome Fitness Center here and I will be up at the crack of dawn for my workout! I'll take pictures of that too.)
Happy Pat
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Kate
non-member comment
Shopping in Hong Kong
Tony's brother called early this morning and had called you at the hotel but it sounds like you hadn't arrived yet. Another friend of ours who moved from Long Island to HK last year (Phoebe) knows of places to shop. Michel will continue to call you at the hotel to relay the information. wish i were there shopping with you - the colour would be RED!